The Gathering Storm
by Eredhys
Summary: Winters had always been harsh in Ered Luin, but Dwarves and Men alike had always pulled through and won their fight against the ruthless season. When the survival of their kind is threatened by a new enemy, however; their struggle against these varied foes is not so easily overcame.
1. Chapter 1

_**AN**_ Hello there! This is my first fanfiction ever and I think you'd like to know that English is not my mother tongue. I decided to write a Fanfic for my pleasure but also to improve my English, so feel free to help. And I haven't written something for ages, so I'm a little bit rusted anyway.

To be honest, I don't really know where I'm going with this story so here again, if you have prompts or things you'd like to see, I could include them in this story easily enough.

I had no idea for the title and the genres and the summary so there is a little chance that they will change later, and I rated T already just to be safe.

No slash, no Durincest and things like that, just a warning about potential fluff at some points –hugs are what I secretly live for.

Oh, and I almost forgot: this story takes place in 2927 TA, 14 years before the Quest, so Fili and Kili are respectively 68 and 63 –see them somewhere just between teenagers and grown-ups.

And now… On with it.

**Disclaimer : Everything related to Middle-Earth belongs to Sir Tolkien. I own nothing.**

* * *

**The Gathering Storm**

**Chapter 1**

The gust of wind that followed the opening of the door almost shook the entire house.

And it was a rather strong one: made of carved stone and pine wood, strongly rooted to the ground, the building also resulted of Dwarven craftsmanship and thus was not to crumble anytime soon. But still, when a breach was created into these solid walls and provided the howling wind a way to enter the cozy house, each wall shuddered for a moment. Then the heavy door was closed again, and a peaceful atmosphere settled once more.

Thorin Oakenshield decided to take in the said atmosphere before doing anything else. Behind his back, he could still feel the door shivering under the repeated assaults of the storm and the recent and unpleasant memory that he himself had been walking through the angry weather only moments before had him enjoying being home even more. His gaze lifted from the damp ground below his boots to rest upon the doorframe at the end of the corridor. There he saw the more than welcoming light emitted by the fire, casting shifting shadows upon the ground, and he was no longer able to stay away from the warmth. He left his soaked boots near the door, hung his equally water-loaded cloak on the wall and walked into the main room until he was standing next to the blazing hearth. He rubbed his arms to try and bring back some life into the frozen limbs before reaching for the poker and stoking the weakening embers with it. When he was done, he let out a long sigh and took a few more steps to meet with the slumbering form of Dís, whose woolen blanket had slipped almost entirely to the floor. He bent down to pick it up and set it back into place, leaning forward at the end to kiss his sister's forehead. He wondered over getting her to bed, but finally decided to let her sleep in the large armchair. It was actually quite comfortable –it was Thorin's favorite seat, after all- so she wouldn't ache in the morning, and neither would she grew cold with the extra log he just added to the fire. With a last fond glance at his beloved sibling, the exiled king went out to get to his own chamber. Walking past the boys' bedroom, he decided that checking on them as well wouldn't hurt anyone and so he carefully pushed the door open to peer into their room. There were lying his heirs, curled up against each other on their bed to stay warm and comfortable in spite of the chilly winter air, snoring lightly.

The soft loving smile was on his face before he knew it and he didn't even bother to hide it. There was no one but him in the dark corridor and he saw no point in telling himself that he didn't love his nephews, because of course he _did_.

He slowly shut the door and finally headed to the room which promised him rest until the morrow, not to stop again. As he made his way to his bed, though, the thought that it was undoubtedly good to be home crossed his mind for the umpteenth time.

* * *

The next morning, Fili was as usual the first brother to wake up.

The first view to greet him was that of Kili's unruly hair sprawled on the mattress as a dark ocean, which was also his first scent of the day: that ocean didn't smell of salt and seaweed –thanks Mahal- but of pine and fresh air and musk. Sometimes, he wished he would be given the chance to see –and taste, because so much proximity also meant he ended up with a few strands in his mouth most of the time- something else to welcome him into the world, like a clear sight of his surroundings, maybe. But he also knew that he wasn't truly honest with himself when he let this kind of thoughts appear, because his little brother was what he held most precious in his heart and there was no greater reward or serener awakening than directly knowing that he was there and safe and close to him.

Detaching his face from the dark brown curls, he tilted his head and twisted his neck until he could see their room's window, veiled by a thin layer of mist and frost and casting a very soft light into the bedchamber. He had woken up just before dawn, then. _Best moment of the day to go hunting_, he told himself while a tired sigh escaped his lips. That meant he would have to get out of bed and into the snow. That meant he would have to leave his nest of mingled warm fur blankets and comfortable little brother and exchange it for a still spot in the brisk winter air and the thick snow.

Well, it wasn't the most inviting proposition he had been made in his life. _But it's not even a proposition, you have to do it and you know it better than anyone else, for your own good and that of your family_, he chided himself. Finally ready to tear himself out of his lazy state, he let go of the still sleeping Kili and shrugged off a part of the blanket. The freezing air made itself immediately known, and a violent shiver ran through his body. Before he knew it, he had sunk deeper into the bed and his arms were wrapped around Kili not two seconds after releasing him. _Mahal, I'm such a coward. I can't even confront a little bit of cold-_

He never ended this thought as he felt his little brother beginning to stir and groan –for an awaking Kili was rarely a silent event- against him. He softened his hold on him to allow him some space for his usual morning wriggling and waited until the dark haired dwarf finally turned around to face him.

"Good morning, worm," greeted Fili with a smirk.

" 'Morning. Lovely as always," replied his brother in a voice hoarse with sleep.

"How are you today?"

"Hm. As usual as of late, I guess."

At that, Fili had nothing but another sigh to reply, and he reached for Kili's forearm and squeezed it lightly. He knew just too well what his brother meant, for he –and many others- didn't fare any better.

Winters had always been harsh in the Blue Mountains, with its low temperature which bit every being to their very core and an awful weather which rarely weakened. That didn't leave many sunny days to enjoy wandering the snowy landscape. Most of the time, they were prepared, of course: each settlement of the area, whether it was one of men, dwarves or both, had fields to harvest and knew how to stock every kind of goods to last the winter without going hungry or too cold. It was also a period of trades and solidarity amongst said settlements, and all in all they often overcome the difficulties without striving too much to do so.

Only, it wasn't so easy this time. Winter had struck way too early for anyone's comfort and most of the harvest had been destroyed, leaving a considerable gap in their supplies. Given the circumstances, many towns usually open for exchanges had closed their gates and kept whatever little food they had for themselves, or asked an enormous price for the slightest share, leaving those who relied on these trades deprived of supplies. Nobody blamed them for the decision, though, for one couldn't give away inexistent resources or afford to starve oneself for the sake of others.

But now, the problem was that the settlement where the Durin family lived was one of those situated high up the mountains and they grew little food: renowned for their skills in various craftsmanship –weapon-making over all-, dwarves let food production to men and drove their efforts into making beautiful objects instead. They earned money from it and it was enough to buy whatever they needed during the cold months. But none of their customers were interested in buying their products this year when they needed to acquire edible goods, and therefore, the dwarves and men gathered in the area had to fend for themselves. It included travelling further away to try and find more customers from towns which didn't suffer from scarcity, hunting in the storm all day long to discover where prey were hiding and restricting _real_ food to eat some tasteless filler instead. Which resulted in their current predicament, and waking up with an aching stomach was one of the things they had grown used to for the last few weeks.

Fili startled when he felt fingers closing around his arm as well and squeezing back, brought back to the present reality by the touch. Kili was smiling kindly at him and his deep brown eyes were anchored to his big brother's sky blue ones.

"Hey. Don't make this face again; I'm not going to collapse or something."

"I know, silly," Fili mumbled back with a lop-sided grin. He couldn't really help it. Every time he thought about their situation, a worried frown appeared on his face. They all had lost weight and it was harder and harder to make ends meet and they had hardly reached the middle of winter. _How on Middle-Earth are we going to go on for so many weeks?_

"Will you stop insulting me every morning? It's not the most pleasant way to wake up, you know," moaned Kili in a scandalized tone while kicking Fili in the shin as a punishment.

"That remains to be seen… The day you'll beat me in a wrestling match, maybe," Fili teased with a smug smile. His dark-haired brother had grown like a weed until oversizing him, and it seemed he wasn't even done, but the blond elder still featured a stronger and muscular body, very useful when it came to pin annoying little brothers down.

Kili huffed dramatically and rolled over to crawl away from Fili. He made his way to the edge of the bed and swiftly reached for his clothes, changing from his night garments to his much warmer outside gear. Fili sent a last regretful thought to the warm spot he was about to leave and got up as well to do the same. Once they were done, they picked up their weapons and baits and other things useful to go hunting and left their bedroom to enter the living room where their mother was busy preparing a breakfast with what she could find. Thorin was already gone for another arduous day at the forge and wouldn't be back before late this evening.

It was kind of the daily schedule they had come up with to get through the winter the better they could: Dís was to stay at home since she could work there, Thorin had to work harder than ever at the forge to earn enough money to live and sometimes left on several days long trips to sell their wares or find affordable food and Fili and Kili went out to venture into the wild, hoping to catch any game or to stumble upon a track that would them to a prey. The family's efforts were barely rewarded, but they had no other choice, so they strived as everyone else.

Kili appeared behind their mother's back to envelop her in one of his enthusiastic hug, kissing the nape of her neck. She chuckled lightly and planted a kiss of her own on his cheek before turning to face her other son. Fili stepped forward to hug her as well and she returned the gesture. She pulled back after a short moment and contemplated both of her sons with her beautiful blue eyes –Thorin's and Fili's eyes-, smiling all the while. They both noticed how exhaustion was written all over her face despite the smile lighting up her countenance, how her so fair features were marred with restrained worry, and they didn't even look at each other before a whirlwind of light and dark hair sprung forward to cling to her once more.

Dis stroked the back of their heads as her heart swelled with love and her grin widened. It hurt her to see her sons and brother –and herself- suffering from scarcity and winter's hardness. Well, especially when it came to the boys. She was reluctant to think about it, but Thorin and her had already went through starvation during their long exile, watching their comrades falling and never getting up, fearing that they and the rest of their family would meet the same fate, struggling to survive into vast wastelands, and all of that just after their mighty home had been stolen from them by a giant firedrake. It was the worst thing she had to live in her life so far, and she knew it even though her memories were blurred –she had only been a little dwarfling at that time, after all- and she had thought, once it was finally, _finally _all over that _maybe_ their hardships ended here. She had been wrong, of course, but thankfully, none of their plight until now had been direr than their long exile through Middle-Earth.

What she was sure of, however, was that she had promised herself not to allow any of her son to go through that kind of misery, no matter what it took from her –she would starve herself to death if it meant her sons could have enough. Thorin would do the same as her without a second thought, too. She knew how much he loved the boys as if they were his owns. More than an uncle, he had been their new father after his demise, always present shall they need help and reassurance, a strong aid she had relied on for a long time when her grief and load of work had threatened to crush her. In return, the very presence of his nephews had done Thorin good: Death had left bloody stains at many points during his lifetime and each loss still plagued him, but when Fili and Kili had –easily enough- wormed their way into his heart, she had witnessed a shadow lift from his gaze to be replaced with mirth and love again.

And now, what she had been dreading for so many decades was lurking near her family as a wolf waiting for the right moment to strike. It wouldn't be nearly as bad as long as they had a solid roof to sleep under and a place where they belonged, but hunger was still the worst sensation she had ever felt –if she had to choose, she would pick a full belly with a night in the wilderness rather than the contrary. You could make do and find a shelter when confronted with your surroundings; you couldn't make food spawn out of nowhere.

It was with these thoughts in mind that she pressed her precious sons to her as they rubbed soothing circles on her back in return. They eventually broke their embrace and she pushed them toward the wooden table of the room. She turned back to grab the two bowls which contained her boys' breakfast –hot water with oats, mostly, though they had the luxury this morning of a few meat scraps from the hare they had caught on the eve; the resulting broth carefully spiced to turn the taste from awful to decent- and placed the recipients before them. Kili eyed his bowl with a barely contained greed that made her heart seize painfully again –how had they come to yearn for _this_? - before a thought seemed to occur to him as he suddenly looked up to her.

"Have you eaten already?"

"I have, sweetheart. I was up early, so I ate with Uncle Thorin. Eat now before it grows cold, it's always better when it's hot."

Kili narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, but lowered his head to do as he was told. He didn't believe his mother –Fili and he were almost sure that their mother and uncle didn't eat their fair share of food just so that the youngest would have more- but it wasn't as if they could do something against it. Except bringing more meat at home. Which he intended to do. He dug in his meal without thinking too much about it, simply grateful that it somehow filled his rumbling stomach and they finished it in silence, getting up when they were ready to go.

"We'll be back at dusk if everything goes well," Fili announced while getting hold of his heavy coat.

"But don't be worried if we're late, we planned to scout further down the forest if we don't find anything in our usual area," added Kili.

Dís nodded absently and shot them a last smile before they were off for the day.

* * *

Kili kicked a pebble with a frustrated groan, sending the sorry rock flying through the air.

"Calm down, nadadith, we can't be far," Fili said, placing a hand on his brother's arm and scrutinizing the bushy area as well.

"But I don't understand!" Kili cried in dismay, ignoring the placating touch. "We've been here for _hours_ and there isn't a single hint of the traps we've settled yesterday!"

Fili sighed and pursed his lips as his irritated baby brother darted forward to resume his furious search of the woods. Kili was right, of course; he remembered well where they had previously put their traps and he had been utterly dumbstruck as well when they had found nothing but frozen ground and fresh snow there. But now after the fourth area they visited, Kili had exploded from soaring frustration over the disappearing traps and was raising a racket that would scare every prey of the area for sure. Kili knew that even more than him; he was the best hunter out of the two and usually didn't allow any sound to be produced when they were on the hunt, which meant that the mysterious disappearances had greatly unsettled him. Despite his calm external appearance, Fili was equally raging inside, mostly because he was out of explanation –one disappearance was disturbing but alright, two began to be rather suspicious and hard to explain, but _four_? –and he hated being helpless when faced to an issue, but as the big brother he forced himself to be as calm and rational as possible to soothe his upset sibling. Said sibling was currently stamping and cursing amongst the tree trunks as if in the middle of a tantrum and didn't seem ready to cool down anyway.

"Kili…"

"Don't! I know what you're going to say, but I… If…"

Kili seemed to struggle for words while wringing his hands for a moment before he gave up on trying to voice his thoughts, instead turning around to face Fili. The look of sheer despair and helplessness he saw etched upon his brother face made his heart clench and his legs began to move on their own will, taking three steps to stop before him, arms held out in invitation. Kili only glared at him for a second before he allowed himself to sink into the comforting embrace of his big brother. Fili held him close to his chest, determined to suppress the angry shivers coursing through Kili's body, result of exhaustion after his outburst and cold air at the same time. The young dwarf eventually seemed to relax as his heavy breathing eased off to a quiet one, and he turned his face away from Fili's fur collar to speak in a low voice, fidgeting with the buckles holding Fili's daggers to his belt.

"I'm sorry," he breathed out. "It's just that… If we don't bring some game, Mum and Uncle are going to keep starving themselves for our sake. I-I don't want them to, it's unfair. And if Thorin were here, he would know where to look to find prey and how to explain the damn missing traps, but he's not here because he has to work for us so he relies on us and he's going to be so disappointed if I can't find something-"

"Oh, Kee," Fili shushed him softly while tightening his hold on his little brother. "You're one of the best hunters in these parts and you know it, if you can't find where the prey have gone, nobody can. And he's not going to be disappointed either. I'm sure he is proud of you, you managed to catch several hares and birds this week, and it's more than most of the other hunters. There, stop worrying now, will you? We'll pull it through just fine, even if we don't find anything today. And we still have one snare to check, so come on; I bet this one can't be gone too."

Kili nodded silently and pulled back from Fili, keeping his head down –obviously not believing to find their last trap and thus bracing himself already for the disappointment. Fili hoped with all his heart that they would find it at its right place –and occupied with a beast in the brightest perspective- even though it wouldn't solve the evaporation of the four others, and that it would free Kili of that unsteady mood of his.

They didn't speak again when they headed to the last area where their snare should be, unable to get rid of their angst about what they would –or wouldn't- find, trudging through the snow. Mahal had at least granted them one of these rare clear days, and they weren't slowed down by the weather for once. They soon walked past a familiar pine, towering above the nearby trees and Fili began to turn around the twisted trunk with apprehension. He could still hear Kili's traipsing steps behind him and the way they slightly faltered as he, too, recognized the place. Then they both glanced in the direction the trap was supposed to be-

And he didn't even have a chance to check for it as Kili leapt forward with a short relieved cry and ran toward their still present snare, almost pushing him out of the way.

"It's still here! It's-" Kili suddenly trailed off and slowly lowered himself to the ground, bending forward and extending a hand to pick up something from the ground.

Fili gasped in shocked disbelief when his eyes fell upon the severed ends of their solid and carefully made trap that Kili held out at arm's length.

He took a few trembling steps to crouch next to his brother who was staring blankly at the ruined object, all enthusiasm forgotten. He took a closer look at their snare as well and brushed his fingers along it.

Fili and Kili made their hunting gear themselves when it came to snares and traps of the like, preferring to trust their skills in fashioning solid ones and saving money –killing two birds with one stone. They knew the strength of the materials they used and the safety of their knots, the resistance of their ties to any kind of pressure who would come from a struggling prey caught in the mechanism.

The hacked ropes were no animal doing. Jaws clenched in fury and fists curled around the wrecked trap, the brothers had no doubt when they came to the same conclusion: someone had voluntarily and repeatedly swung a sharp object at their snare until it broke. That someone has surely stolen –destroyed?-their four other traps as well.

That someone was deliberately depriving them of their means to survive.

* * *

_**AN**_ So, end of the first chapter. It was not supposed to end at this event but it was beginning to be very long –almost 4 000 words already- so it'll be for next chapter!

As I said in the first AN, it's my first Fanfiction as well as my first "serious" English writing (until then, what I wrote in English were 250 words essays for school even though I couldn't help reaching 500 words because 250 is definitely too little) so… Please tell me if the amount of description I've set up for is too much. I've been role-playing on the Internet for 5 years in my mother tongue so that is the way I write since I learnt how to expatiate everything, but it was for role-playing games purposes and now I'm not so sure it is well adapted for a one-sided story. So I don't know if I'd really be able to change it but tell me if it is too much and I'll try and improve it for future chapters. :)

And one last thing before saying goodbye for now: I'm saying it again but I write for my pleasure _and _to **learn **and improve my english. That being said, I truly _want_ you to tell me even the slightest mistake I made or to feed me with new ways to improve my writing, turn sentences, vary the words I use –everything you can think of. Please? Don't hold back any criticism, really, as long as you're sure of what you claim. :)

Until next time!


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **Woa, I'm sorryyy for the late! I had started writing this a long time ago but I wrote it very slowly at a most uneven pace soo.. I promise later chapters won't be THAT late. A huge thank you and welcome to everyone who favorited/followed and, most of all, those who let a review! You've been great help, you're awesome :) Same as first chapter here: feel the teacher or grammar nazi inside of you wake up and spot the mistakes and everything that feels wrong or what I can improve and tell me! :)

I feel like this chapter is awfully long and a kind of boring filler chapter but heh… See about it yourself! I enjoy long chapters in stories but I don't know about you. Tell me if you wish them to be shorter?

**Disclaimer : Everything related to Middle-Earth belongs to Sir Tolkien. I own nothing.**

* * *

**The Gathering Storm**

**Chapter 2**

Kili was absolutely, deeply, furiously _angry_.

It swelled within him like a great wave of heat, a flooding and irritating warmth originating from his middle to spread like fire through his entire body. It made his breathing labored as he breathed through clenched teeth and he only wanted to spring to his feet and _shout_ and _kick_ and _punch _something-

"Kili. Come on."

His head whipped to his right and his arm jerked with the savage impulse he felt to strike whoever had taken hold of his shoulder –a reflex he restrained barely on time when he met his brother's blue eyes. So he balled his hand into an even tighter fist and would have pierced his palm with his nails weren't it for the gloves protecting his hands. He knew he was being irrational and perhaps even childish –it was his second tantrum in a very little time, after all– and forced himself to exhale slowly through his nose. But he couldn't help it. The anger was still here, wringing and hissing snake settled inside his stomach. At the moment, he was angry at… kind of everything. He hated feeling useless or as if he wasn't doing enough, and thatwas how he would surely felt if they came back home empty-handed. Whenever people around him would work hard on something, then he would try his very best as well. Maybe it was all about pride, honor and self-esteem, but it was how he was anyway. Even though he knew he didn't really need to prove himself at anything, he did it for himself and had almost made it a personal oath and goal. _Youngest of the family indeed, but not less capable_.

"There's nothing we can do for now, Kee. _Come on._"

Kili sighed, suddenly drained from his fit of vigorous wrath. He gave a stiff nod to Fili and heaved himself up to his feet, shoving the ruined snare down the large pocket of his coat. He turned about to glance at his elder brother who was now standing a few paces away, eying him almost carefully, as if he wasn't sure anymore how to act around his snappish brother. Kili decided to ignore it and raised an eyebrow at the blonde dwarf before realizing Fili would not give any directive.

It was an almost obvious agreement between them that Kili being the most experienced in hunting and stuff of the kind; it was on him that it befell to lead the duo during their hunts. And now especially, Fili would not risk suggesting anything that might slight his little brother if he felt wrongly directed in a matter he mastered.

As it was, Kili thought about it for a few seconds, almost wishing that Fili would for once take the lead and decide whether to explore after such a failure or to go back home. But that wasn't going to happen. The dark-haired youth let out another loud weary sigh.

"Let's go home," he said in a low and dispirited voice.

* * *

On their way back to the mountain slope where their village was, their path had crossed the trail of a pheasant. Kili had lost all enthusiasm for that day and was not especially eager to track the bird, dejected as he was, so it took a bit of coaxing from Fili for him to go. But he didn't regret it as Kili came back with a full grown pheasant hanging over his shoulder, a tiny smile plastered on his face. Fili beamed at him and gave him an affectionate clap on the upper arm. It was not much, a single bird for four. And Kili didn't feel relieved or victorious in the slightest, bringing back a mere pheasant when he had hoped for several prey or a deer.

But it was something.

By the time they reached the gates to access the settlement the sky was barely beginning to turn pink as the light slowly started to decrease. Dís wouldn't be expecting them for another one or two hour.

"We should go and see Uncle at the forge, Kili. We must tell him what happened with the traps… He may know what to do," Fili said to his brother, halting him in his steps with one hand on the arm.

"Agreed."

They found Thorin hammering on a white hot blade, deeply concentrated on his task and striking relentlessly the smoldering metal. They knew how their uncle was always giving himself entirely in whatever he did and how it was that –along with his extraordinary skills in forging, of course- that distinguished his work from all the others blacksmiths' forged weapons of the area. And they also knew better than bothering him while he was so engrossed in his job, so they waited patiently by the door.

The time came when Thorin eventually set his hammer down, plunged the blazing sword into the cooling water pool and turned, spotting his nephews. He shot them a quick smile and a nod and cleaned himself from soot and sweat before walking to them.

"Nice shot, Kili," was the first thing he said when he laid eyes upon the lifeless pheasant , to which the youth responded with a shy smile and a nod, always utterly glad and relieved to receive praises from Thorin but still not quite satisfied with his result of the day. "What's bringing you here, boys?"

"We're done for today, but we wanted to see you before going back home. We could have brought more game home, but… something happened in the woods. We thought you could help… perhaps," Fili replied to their uncle, now not so sure anymore of the rightness of their errand. It was not as if he could magically explain the disappearance of their traps, and if Thorin had known of thieves or poachers in the woods, he would have told it, wouldn't he?

"What happened, Fili?"

The blonde youth swallowed back his doubts –it was a bit too late to think about it now- and met his uncle's hard gaze fixed expectantly on him.

"We set traps yesterday, five of them, but we couldn't find them today. Four were completely missing, no trace of them anywhere. We've been doing this for decades and it had never happened so far."

Thorin's countenance became even harder and they could see the muscles of his jaw tensing up in annoyance and wonder. Very odd indeed. But his nephews weren't done, and he wanted to hear everything. "You've talked about five traps. What of the fifth?"

Fili shot a quick glance at his brother, remembering how the state of the last snare had affected him even more deeply than the disappearance of the other ones. Fili had been enraged and unsettled as well, but Kili… he was not really the kind to let his anger or any other wild emotion get the best of him unless he had a very good reason, and Fili hadn't seen him animated with such ire for quite a long time.

"It had been destroyed. Not by an animal," Fili said at last.

"What?"

Their uncle's voice was as infuriated as unbelieving, and in response Kili pulled the severed snare out of his pocket and presented it to Thorin. The latter took it and examined it for a second before growling and letting Kili take it back, his face hard and his blue eyes cold and dangerous. He had dealt with other people's scorn all his long life and it still pursued him here, but he wouldn't allow the hardships to come to his nephews any more than they had already. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to restrain his raising fury and looked back at his nephews a moment later, taking a deep breath in.

"We'll see about this later," he said in as calm a voice as he could though he felt like storming out and run into the forest to find the responsible ones. "Don't worry about it for now. I've been told this morning that there was a caravan coming our way, they should be here by tomorrow at dusk. That means food."

He offered them a small but genuine smile and they returned it more willingly than ever, both their spirits uplifted by the news. Kili's worries about the amount of meat he had brought dissipated to the wind in a matter of seconds and he gave Fili a playful shove. Thorin sent them out and back home before they could bring about a full and destructive war and he found himself to be in a slightly better mood as well after their departure when he went to lift his hammer again.

Perhaps, eventually, they would be alright.

* * *

Fili and Kili were amongst the first to rally the place where the caravan was to settle. Thorin was to join them a bit later, having taken a day off to be able to accompany his nephews and choose the best wares for the lowest price. The young dwarves were full of good will and eager to help, and although they already had a keen sense of bargaining, they had not been hardened on these matters by years of poverty and exile like Thorin had. As it was, the dwarf king would not lose such a good occasion as this one to sharpen their haggling skills. He couldn't allow a mistake to be made this day either. He expected the merchants to come up with high prices given the Blue Mountain's plight and it would be quite the fight to lower the prices to a convenient amount of money in that period when each coin mattered, hence his presence at his nephews' sides for today. The brothers were quite relieved, to tell the truth: they were aware of what was at stake of their barter and bargaining for this time –the welfare of their family- and they didn't want to waste money away. Not that they would do it willingly, of course; but as Thorin had stated when he had said he would accompany them, it would be safer to have their uncle with them to avoid any business with some crook or a slight judging mistake concerning one ware or another.

Now the sun was beginning its slow descent down the sky until its meeting with the horizon, and the first wagons of the merchants finally came into view. Their pace was slow but steady, crossing carefully the distance between the wild lands they came from and the settling ahead of them. Fili and Kili were soon practically bouncing in anticipation once they'd seen the approaching caravan. It was the first time in weeks that goods will be coming to them instead of the other way around, and Thorin had said that some of the merchants were herders ready to sell their beasts along with other food merchants. In fact, this arrival truly was the best news they had had in _months_, and both brothers final felt like forgetting winter's hardness for the moment in order to allow themselves a bit of fun and relaxation.

They were sitting on a low fence, assessing happily the time it would take to the first newcomers to enter the market place and it was the second sunny day in a row, which contributed even more to their delightful mood. They agreed at last that they probably would have to wait another ten minutes before they could begin their purchases and when Fili turned his head back to his little brother, he was met with a very serious and intense glare –it could have been frightening if it weren't for the growing grin Kili tried to contain and the mischievous twinkle in his eyes, though. Fili raised an eyebrow and put on his best haughty face to parry his brother's.

"And is that supposed to impress me?" the elder of the two said with a quizzical glance. "Whatever you're up to, my revenge is always worse, when are you going to keep that in that empty head of yours?"

Instead of replying with his usual wit and fire, Kili shrugged and hopped down the fence, stretching his arms above his head and yawning. "We should go and get Uncle, they're very close now. Come on!"

Fili narrowed his eyes a moment at his departing younger brother, slightly taken aback by the lack of response before deciding to let go for the moment and jumping down in Kili's wake. He would always-

Fili's thoughts were brutally cut short when his face got painfully introduced to the snowy ground as he face-planted down the fence, absolutely clueless about what just happened until he heard Kili's fit of laughter. _Of course._

Groaning and spluttering, the blond dwarf heaved himself off the ground and tried to sit up, only to find his right leg still outstretched behind him. He crawled back until he could reach the wooden fence and there he reached for his boot which was neatly tied up to the wooden poles thanks to the loose laces hanging from the boot. The sneaky bastard must have fastened them when he wasn't looking, quickly and unnoticeable with that nimble fingers of his. He eventually pulled his leg free, wiped the melting snow from his face and got up to face his doubled-over brother. _Very amusing indeed. _

After 63 years of being an older brother, Fili had acquired quite a lot of experience in self-control and knew a great deal about how to treat irksome little brothers –he had been humiliated already when landing on the frozen ground in such a graceful way, he wouldn't give the imp the satisfaction to rage and go mad. Not right away. So he took a deep breath in and let the cool stingy air fill his lungs before releasing it slowly. Not so far from him, Kili was trying to stop laughing only to choke and guffaw anew whenever he would take a look at his older brother. From Fili's point of view, it looked like his lovely sibling was about to die from the lack of air in his body –and bent as he was, it seemed plain to him that he would collapse in very little time. But he loved him _way _too much to let him die, didn't he? He needed to save him from his untimely fate. Now.

Fili sprung forward with a mock snarl and covered the distance between him and the dark-haired youth in less than a second. He had the feral pleasure to see Kili's eyes widening in surprise, as if he didn't expect the payback and- was it _fear_? He didn't waste any second on analyzing Kili's feelings at the moment though as he had already tackled him and was busy shoving handfuls of snow into his clothes, ignoring the horrified shrieks and heart-breaking pleas emitting from the struggling body beneath him. It was quite wonderful, the thorough satisfaction he felt, and the variety of emotions that seeped and pulsed into his whole body as he was enjoying his revenge… It definitely felt so, so _nice_.

"F-Fili I won't do it again! Please! Please, s-stop!"

"I warned you not two minutes ago. Now shut up or you'll eat that snow!"

"It's c-COLD Fili!"

"It's actual snow you idiot, I would be worried if it were warm."

"Get off!"

"Alright. Just got something else to do first…"

Without further warning, Fili stopped stuffing snow into his brother and swiftly slid his wet and frigid hands under his last layer of dry and warm cloth to tickle mercilessly his sides. The sadistic grin was on his face at the first high-pitched cry Kili gave as he still attempted to free himself from the blonde weight, arching and jerking and bucking, and the elder probably would have tickled him to death if it weren't for the deep voice that ended the torture.

"Fili, release your brother, we have to go and welcome the merchants now."

The said dwarf cut short to the dark-haired agony, leaving him panting miserably on the ground as Fili looked up to peer at their uncle through dripping strands of messy blonde hair. Thorin was leaning on a wall not far from the brothers, arms crossed over his chest and face as hard as ever. He didn't hide the slightly amused twinkle in his blue eyes though, and while Fili couldn't say for sure how long they had been watched, it was plain to him that he might have enjoyed it for a few minutes at least. Which meant they couldn't get into too much trouble if he hadn't separated them earlier. Strong with this new knowledge, he put on his best charming face as he got up from his breathless brother and casually dusted his coat.

"Sure, Uncle. We're ready… I suppose."

He glanced down at Kili with an arched eyebrow upon seeing his little brother hugging himself and engulfing air through chattering teeth. He extended a hand for him to take but was unsurprisingly batted away with an angry glare, which forced a last bark of laughter through his lips.

Once both his nephews were finally up and about, Thorin left his observation post and walked towards the troublesome twain, casting a side-long glance at Kili who looked like he had taken a bath only a few minutes prior. Which he kind of had, come to think of it…

The threesome made their way back to the market place, Fili and Kili elbowing each other all the way with more force at each new blow to the point Fili once crashed down onto the path –but Thorin was used to, if not jaded by their antics and he only rolled his eyes a couple of times. He didn't show it as openly as the younger dwarves, but the agreeable weather coupled to the idea of fresh and healthy food coming their way had considerably lightened his mood as well.

The first comers were beginning to unload their stuff when they arrived, welcomed by a growing crowd of men and dwarves. Thorin had been warned that the whole caravan didn't come from the same place and thus would arrive on the same day but not as a continuous line of merchants, and slowed down by the beasts they herded, the merchants he laid his interest on would most likely be the last to settle. It let them one or two hours of business-free stroll amongst the wares and he knew his nephews would love it –ever since they were children, they were enhanced by all kind of foreign ware meeting their inquisitive eyes. He had the dismay to realize that they hadn't even waited for him to give them a permission to wander off, though, for when he turned around to face them he was met by empty space.

* * *

"What about these ones, Fee?"

"I don't know, Kee. Remember we're not supposed to buy anything but food and absolutely needed stuff, so try not to be tempted by too many things."

Kili let out an inaudible disappointed sigh and tore his eyes off the impressive arrows displayed before him. He walked away from the store to go back to Fili's side and think about something else. He knew Fili was right, of course; and he didn't seriously want to buy the arrows. He knew why they were here, he was more than aware of their plight, and above all he was no spendthrift. He couldn't help being engrossed by the amazing work fashioned by various tradesmen nor the nagging feeling of longing for some objects he valued above others –like these arrows. He could make his own decent shafts, sure; and they did the job –they pierced what he aimed for- but he wasn't even of age yet and his work was far from being as neat as this one. He consoled himself with the knowledge that he would get better with each passing year though, and since practice made perfect, his crafting skills would also reach a fair level at last.

He felt Fili's arm come around his shoulders and he leaned in the one-armed embrace with a small smile while still loitering in the midst of various shops. Kili's clothes were still drenched from their battle, but he was quite stunned by the uncommon warmth of the day –as far as a winter day could be warm, of course; still he wasn't shivering as much as previously.

They spent quite a long time like this, eyes sparkling with awe and interest when landing on a spectacular thing and chattering happily with tradespeople. Despite the rough travel condition because of encumbered and damaged roads, most of them were in a good mood and friendly with the young dwarves –it wasn't very hard for the two brothers though, always smiling and good-mannered and naturally charming people they met. They went on this way until Kili chanced a glance in the road direction. He suddenly nudged Fili who turned round to gaze in the direction Kili was pointing at. A smile stretched on his face as well as he saw silhouettes slowly detaching themselves from the misty horizon to come their way.

"Let's find Thorin then, it seems like food had arrived at last!"

Kili nodded enthusiastically and grabbed Fili's wrist to bounce ahead with renewed energy. He slalomed with agility between the customers, dragging his brother behind him in his frantic search of their uncle when he caught sight of him, talking away to Balin and Dwalin. They skidded to a halt next to the threesome of old friends and bowed hastily to Fundin's sons.

"Hello, Misters Balin and Dwalin!" they greeted in unison.

Balin chuckled before such youthful joy and energy and patted them both on the shoulder while Dwalin let out his most polite groan. Fili and Kili straightened up and twirled to face their uncle, the two of them wearing matching grins.

"They'll be here in half an hour, Uncle," said Kili in a barely contained excited tone, "we saw them."

Thorin returned the grin with one of his own and clapped his nephews' shoulders.

"Shall we go then?"

* * *

"What do you mean, you have _nothing_?"

"We told you, m'lord. We've been attacked and we ain't got anything anymore."

Thorin thought his heart was going to burst out of his chest. Or that he had stopped, he didn't know and it wasn't as if he _cared _right now. The three Durins stood in front of a few men from the last part of the caravan, the one that was supposed to bring herds and much needed supplies, and they had just stated that they had been attacked on the road, in the first hours of the morning, and had been robbed of most of their goods – their beasts, mainly, had all been decimated. Thorin clenched his fists, trying not to let his frustration and disappointment evolve into anger. He shot a quick glance at his sides where his nephews stood, but seeing their delighted face crumbling to one of despair and defeat, he focused his attention back to the stranger merchant, jaw tense.

"What do we do, then?" the dwarf said in a low rumbling voice, facing down the tanned human with a cold glare.

"I know not. We're sorry we don't have our wares to offer but we lost everything too, m'lord. Those beasts were our only wealth and know we have nothing."

Thorin let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand over his tired face. _Of course_. The dwarves had been promised food from the caravan, indeed, but in his sheer helplessness to fix the catastrophe, the exiled king had almost forgotten that they wouldn't be the only ones to suffer this loss. He had no right to blame the merchants for what had happened as it wasn't their fault.

Those who had attacked the herd, however…

There was a new glint of firm determination and fierce hatred –which was not directed at the man before him, though- when Thorin looked back up.

"Your assaulters. What were they like?"

"We haven't seen them, m'lord. They let loose a huge pack of hounds to attack us. Damn beasts were well trained for that kind of exercise, they were. They drove us away from our herds, killed or mortally injured the beasts, then invaded our wagons and stole away what they could. Even bit some of us, the nasty bastards! It happened so fast, they caught us unprepared. Would have get back the carcasses of our beasts to save what we could, but they kept lunging at us. Had to leave, and quickly. Afraid we would lose our own throats here."

"I see. Not only unworthy, but also too cowardly to do the job themselves. I am sorry for what happened on the road, and for what it means for both our people. But whoever did this won't get away so easily. I swear we will find them and what is rightfully ours. You and your merchants are free to stay and rest amongst the settlement until then."

The mid-aged man bowed his head in a clumsy manner to thank the dwarf and slowly walked back to his family's cart. Now that he stared, the fabrics covering some part of the wagons were torn in several places, shreds of threadbare clothes hanging from the vehicle suggesting how, indeed; many fierce claws and jaws had ripped out whatever they could catch. Then the carriage began to groan as the weary horses pulled forwards, the wooden wheels detached themselves from the ground and several seconds later, the coach was gone.

Thorin didn't wait for the time to trickle by. He turned round to face his unusually quiet nephews. Fili had a comforting arm around Kili's middle who looked utterly downcast by what they had just heard. He could tell Fili was not faring much better, but as he has done for so many years, he kept his own feelings at bay for his little brother's sake. They both looked up at him when they heard his footsteps approaching, the two pairs of eyes finding his gaze looking for directives.

"Boys, go back home and get ready. We're going to find those thieves."

* * *

The sun was lowering and setting the heavens ablaze when a line of dwarves left the road to head for the edge of the forest. Clouds had begun to gather in the sky and the snow had returned, tiny swirling dots flying around them and landing on their hair, coats and ponies in the dwindling light.

After Thorin's decision to go after the culprits, a dozen of volunteers had readied themselves in record time. It had been pointed out that the night was almost upon them, which didn't let them a lot of time and thus it would be wiser to wait for the morrow and the light of a new day, but the exiled king was far too enraged to let them possibly go away shall they delay the man-hunt. He personally could endure another day without a proper meal, but he had seen how his nephews' light mood had been crushed by the announcement –seen how Kili somehow seemed to look guilty because he had been strolling with Fili all day long instead of going hunting.

They were supposed to be finally relieved of their current hardships at least for a little while with this caravan arrival. It had all went wrong because of some worthless bandits and Thorin was having none of it.

Now they were facing the border of the woods boarding the main road taken by the caravan, not far from where the group had been attacked, holding a flaming torch in hand to illuminate the depths of the forest. Thorin stared silently for a moment, and then shouted instructions.

"We split up to cover more ground! Everyone takes a partner; nobody shall venture alone into these parts. If you locate the targets, do not attack before everyone else is there, just keep an eye on them and send your partner to warn the rest of us. We'll meet up here in three hours if nobody has found anything."

Everyone nodded and the dwarves began to pair up. It was not long before they were ready to set off, and the crowd scattered to enter the woods in various directions.

Fili and Kili went together, of course. They randomly chose a path in the forest to explore and for the first half hour, the only sounds they could hear was the constant noise of the ponies progressing through the wilderness. The clop of the hooves. The rattling of the harness. The occasional neighing. The brothers would usually speak to each other, but they both felt like they were too weary this evening to raise their voices. Plus it was easier that way to concentrate on the darkness surrounding them and find something. Yet the eerie silence was slowly grating on Kili's nerves. He liked wandering the forest for sure, but not that way, straining to see anything, looking for possibly dangerous criminals in the night and, the most annoying of all their woes, empty-stomached.

And how were they even going to know when it was time to go back and leave the forest, anyway? They couldn't see the stars through the thick and dark canopy above their heads, and they both felt like they were going on for a long time already –and so far, they had made little to no progress when it came to tracking the thieves. Kili tried to stay focused, keeping his eyes anchored to the dimly illuminated path before them, fighting to fend off his woeful thoughts and muster all his resentment instead. He felt as though he wouldn't mind going back to his warm bed and sleep his hunger away, yes, but he was equally determined to be one of those who would take care of the dishonorable persons who had dared take goods that weren't theirs to benefit from. Kili thought back to their tired mother; to his and Fili's exhausting hunts in the woods, forced to keep going further and further every day; to his uncle who had accepted enormous loads of work in addition to his already incredibly busy timetable, and all of it to try and keep everyone fed. And that wasn't even a full success. He tightened his grip on his reins, almost boiling with rage as his feelings were fueled anew and not suffering the bite of cold on his skin so much anymore.

He was brought back to reality quite suddenly though when his stomach let out a particularly loud rumble. Kili looked over at his brother with a sheepish smile plastered on his face, who offered him an amused yet faintly wistful grin in return.

"Don't worry," Fili said as he trailed his gaze back to the foggy surroundings. "We'll find them soon and after that, we won't be hungry for a while."

Kili frowned, not really wanting his sibling to think that he was _more_ hungry than the others and that he couldn't go on just as fine as everyone else could.

"Hey, it's-"

The young archer never got to finish his sentence as an impressively loud racket suddenly raised in the forest that had been utterly quiet until then, and the brothers didn't have a second to react as a black blurry shape barreled out of the shadows and dove for Kili. The ponies were quicker to regain their senses as they reared and neighed and tossed their heads in terror, leaping forwards in an attempt to escape the unknown threat, but it was too late for the one targeted dwarf. The growling tornado jumped at the startled youth just at the moment he was thrown off his terrorized steed and whatever the attacker was missed its quarry. Kili landed hard on his back and felt all the air leave his lungs in a jiffy, leaving him gasping with pain on the hard frozen ground. He wasn't prepared for the sudden fall and his back felt it from the very top of his neck to his tailbone, not forgetting each rib. But Fili was there in an instant, having dismounted his distraught pony too to help his brother up to his feet.

Not a second after both dwarves were standing –though utterly puzzled and quite anxious as to what had just happened–, the threat was there again. It took a pause to evaluate more thoroughly its new attack this time, and they could see just what it was that had lunged for Kili. A great black hound stood a few paces away, huge, all flashing eyes and jagged teeth and cruel claws, staring right at them. Saying that the brothers were now more terrified than merely flustered would be an understatement, albeit it described how they felt rather accurately. The stout muzzle of the wolfish beast broke into two halves as it opened its impressive jaws and sprung forward for the second time.

Fili moved in front of his brother to shield him, but the predator wouldn't have such a feeble attempt bother its plans, and it swiftly avoided the blonde dwarf to fly at Kili. The latter staggered backwards; still not entirely lucid after his previous fall and surprise, and he drew his sword a moment too late. Fili let out a startled yell when the muscular beast collided with his brother and brought them both to the ground again, the force of the impact propelling them another meter backwards. Pulling out his own twin blades in a whirlwind of flashing silver, a furious snarl on his face, Fili went to aid his brother, the adrenaline keeping his thoughts from worrying over him. At the moment, he simply needed to hack at the mutt until it didn't so much as twitched anymore so he could rescue Kili.

What he didn't count on, however, was the snow giving way beneath the dwarf and the dog entwined in a wrestling stance on the ground. There was a sudden raucous cracking and rumble and then they were gone, beast and brother; gone into the darkness. Fili hurried over to the edge of the steep crevasse that had just appeared, eyes wide and searching for the pair engulfed by the abysm.

"KILI!"

There was no reply to be heard from the bottom of the sinister gulf, so Fili took another step towards the brim, eyes trying to pierce the snow dust to see the bottom of the crack, and yet another one in his despair when he could still see naught. Of course, later on, Fili himself would say he had been terribly rash and unthoughtful in his measure –though he could be easily forgiven, for out of worry and caught in the momentum and the frenzy of a sudden event, it is plain that even the wisest tend to forget reason for a decisive moment. Nevertheless, it was no surprise that before he even had a chance to cry out for his brother once more, there was another resounding crack, and Fili felt the edge of the rift disappear beneath his own soles and then he knew no more.

* * *

**AN**: Cliffy

Hehehe

Well we're done with this chapter then! Thanks for reading, don't forget to correct me if you see anything wrong, I hope you enjoyed it, sorry for the late, see you next chapter and all!

Oh and as I previously said if you have prompts or suggestions or anything… Feel free to tell me as well, I need ideas!

Bye bye, you beautiful people :D


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